Don't Forget to Remember Yourself
by LAWLMOFO
Summary: Malik was never noticed by anyone except his friend Ryou, but when one of the popular kids takes a dangerous liking to him, he throws everything away and ends up in a terrible situation. Yaoi/Shonen ai, AU, MM MB, M for later chapters. REVISED
1. The Meeting

Hey, so this is my first fanfiction, and I hope it's alright. Thanks if you read it :)

Pairing: Malik/Marik and later Malik/?

Warnings: Slash, Attempted Rape, Character Death, Drugs and Alcohol, Lemon, and all that good stuff.

(edited thursday february 19, 2009)

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"For God's sake, will someone close that damn window?" The eleventh grade chemistry room was suddenly awakened by an exceedingly red-faced woman.

A blonde boy in the back stood up nervously and closed the window, as November here can be quite cold.

"Thank you, young man. Now, I'm here today because you're regular teacher caught pneumonia and was unable to attend. She told me that we were to be making a solution today, so partner up."

I, Malik, the boy who opened the window, went to sit with my best friend. Well, my only friend, really. He smiled, "You really should be more social, you know."

I sighed, and then glanced to a table where two girls were painting their nails and giggling. "I think I'd rather die than be like that."

My friend, Ryou Bakura, laughed and nodded, "I'm not asking you to be like a girl, Malik, but you could at least talk to my other friends. It's weird when we're with them because you're always so…quiet." He shivered slightly.

"You mean Yugi and the friendship freaks?" That got me a dirty look.

"Just try, okay, for me."

"Okay, Ryou I'm so confused with this." The class had been working on their solutions for twenty minutes and tension was high.

"Malik it's easy, the instructions are right in front of you." I scoffed; only the friendship freaks used instructions.

"It says put the stuff that looks like piss in the other stuff that looks like vomit, right?" Without waiting for a reply I dumped an entire beacon of yellow liquid into green-brown liquid.

"No Malik, stop!" Unfortunately, I did not hear Ryou's pleas, because at that moment there had been quite a large explosion.

Everyone in the class was either under their desks, staring in awe, or, in the teacher's case, turning red with fury.

I assume my face must have been amusing, to say the least. Most of it was covered in black dust and my mouth was opened wide. My hair was blown away from my face as if I had been electrocuted. Ryou couldn't help it, he started to laugh. I turned to look at my friend and blinked, which made the white haired boy laugh even harder. By now people around the room were bursting out in giggles too.

"Hey!" the entire class jumped up, we had completely forgotten that the teacher was still there. "The table's on god damn fire you idiots!"

At lunch, I sat at my usual table, population: me. I looked up at the bustling people around me and sighed; all of them either hated me or didn't know I existed.

My gaze rested on Ryou, the only person that liked me, sitting with his other friends. My expression turned from sorrow to envy as I continued to watch the boy. After all, the friendship freaks had each other. I had no one, Ryou should be with me. When I shook myself out of thought I saw my friend waving. "Oh god Ryou, you can not expect me to come over there…" I whispered, earning nervous glances from a couple of freshmen walking by.

Already I could see the faces of the F.F. turn sour, _they absolutely hate me_. _Who doesn't? _Ryou gave me a look that even I could not refuse, and I decided to go. Mostly to see my friend, but it would also piss off the F.F., an added bonus.

"Hello Malik!" Ryou said a little too sweetly.

"Err, hi." I tried to smile, but I probably just looked retarded, so I sat down quickly at the end of the table beside Ryou.

"So…you were pretty funny in chem., I hear." Jounouchi asked through a mouthful of potatoes, he's kind of gross. Everyone was looking at me like I was a tiger that escaped from the zoo, all nervous and gaping. It was really weird.

"Uh, yeah, just a little explosion is all." They all burst into laughter. _What the hell, it's not really that funny… _

After almost five minutes of spontaneous laughter they sat still, it made the mood of the table pretty awkward.

Yugi coughed and smiled brightly. "Malik, why don't you come to my grandpa's shop after school?" Ha, I could see it in their faces. They were secretly screaming, "No Yugi! Nooo!" But it was too late now.

"Of course he would." I could barely open my mouth before Ryou answered for me. What a great guy.

For the rest of the afternoon I couldn't concentrate, as all my thoughts were focused on dreading what might happen at the Game Shop. I decided that I would just go home and not even bother, avoiding any embarrassment whatsoever.

Unfortunately that did not happen.

I was trying to casually walk out of the school parking lot, but I was too busy turning around to make sure no one was following me to notice that they were right there.

"Hey, there he is!" Ryou's shout scared me half to death, honestly, I almost started to cry. Maybe it was not so much the scare but the fact that I had failed to escape my doom.

"Oh… yeah, hi." I looked at the Friendship Freaks, what…freaks.

Yugi looked at me and smiled, "We're all glad you're coming Malik." Bull. "Let's go now."

Just walking to the shop was like a living hell for me. It was almost like the F.F. and Ryou spoke another language, I had absolutely no clue what was going on. Of course the reason for that could have been the fact that I was walking about ten feet behind them. If some popular kid saw me with them I'd be the biggest loser in school.

Wait… what I am talking about? I basically am. Well, I guess it could get worse; they are even bigger losers than I am. That gave me a boost of self esteem and I found myself doing some sort of strut down the street.

I flew past the F.F., who just stared like retards as I broke into a little jig.

What a coincidence that at that exact moment, Marik, the most popular boy in the entire school, stepped out into his yard and saw me. I heard someone laughing and immediately froze. I jerked around but saw nobody other than the freaks, who were looking very confused. Then my gaze rested on him and my jaw dropped, he was laughing so hard that he fell to the ground and started choking.

I almost had a panic attack and I started jumping around screeching. The F.F. were still just standing there, and a small number of neighborhood residents were looking on with amusement.

I decided that I should probably go to help him, as much as that could damage my non-existent reputation. I kneeled down to his level. "Um, are you going to be okay?"

He coughed and stood up, finally calming down. That's when I first got a glimpse of his eyes.

I don't know quite what he said after that; I was too occupied looking at him. He was flawless, and absolutely mesmerizing. I could have stayed there for an eternity, but I felt something warm on my arm and snapped out of the trance.

I could see a pale hand outstretched to me, its owner I assumed to be Ryou so I grasped it and got to my feet. To my surprise the hand did not belong to my friend. It was Bakura, Marik's 'partner in crime', as most of the school said. He was nearly as well liked as him, so naturally I was more than a bit intimidated. He obviously saw this.

A smirk graced his face and he crossed his arms. "Hey Marik, I don't think I've ever seen this one before." That was typical. Before I could stop myself I spoke, attempting to sound intelligent.

"An overwhelming percentage of the Earth's population has the same outlook as you, Bakura."

His grin turned into confused frown, he didn't understand. That had gone as I planned, even if I really didn't plan it. I was surprised though, when Marik laughed.

Both Bakura and I turned to him with puzzled expressions. "Why are you laughing, I don't get it." The white haired boy muttered.

"Well you wouldn't Bakura, you're a dumb ass." The accused dumb ass sneered and his cold eyes rested on me again.

"Anyway, you're wearing a Domino School uniform, are you new there or something?"

I was quite taken aback with that statement, a wave of disappointment crashed over me and I sighed. "I've been in your class since grade three." I choked, looking at Bakura, waiting for him to recognize me and apologize. That, of course, did not occur.

"Pfft, I've never seen you in my life."

I could feel tears burning behind my eyelids, begging to run free down my cheeks, but I wouldn't cry there. Not in front of them.

"Of course you haven't, after all I'm invisible to everyone except Ryou, and even he…"

"I see you, Malik." Marik's sharp voice sent shivers down my spine. I didn't turn to him, I just waited for him to finish. "You aren't invisible to me, you're…"

He was interrupted by a soft cry and I whipped around to see Ryou wiping a tear from one of his doe brown eyes. "Every one sees you, they just don't talk to you because…" he drifted off and sobbed again. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Because what, Ryou. They're too afraid to be seen with the freak, the _nobody_." I spat the last word nastily and he shook his head, parting his lips to reply but I wouldn't let him. "YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE! I DON'T MEAN SHIT TO ANYBODY!"

His tears were now falling relentlessly, but I was so full of anger that I didn't even care. He started to back away and then took off running as fast as his slender legs allowed him to. The F.F., who had been staring in disbelief the entire time, went after him but I stayed there. I didn't want to see any of them right now.

"Um, I'm going to go back inside and make some popcorn, Marik. Come inside anytime…" Bakura glanced nervously from Marik to me and then opened the door to the house, disappearing behind it. Marik was looking at me in an odd way, like a child looks at the toy he has wanted. I tried to wave it off but it was too uncomfortable to bear.

I was about to tell him to stop when he pushed his finger to my lips and leaned in. "I like you Malik." He analyzed me up and down with that greedy look and then smirked. "Come here tomorrow and we'll get to know each other better."

I couldn't say anything. I nodded, then turned to walk home and as I did I could feel his eyes on my back, burning a hole into me like a hot laser. I felt terrible but at the same time, I was in heaven.


	2. The Visit

Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

(edited thursday, february 19, 2009)

* * *

**Chapter Two**

The next morning I got up earlier than usual, most likely because I dozed off immediately after yesterdays events.

I was about to get something to eat when my phone rang. I blinked and stared blankly for a minute, then picked it up and said groggily, "Hello?" There was silence on the other line. "Hello!" I heard a soft gasp and then Ryou's voice replied. "Oh, Malik I…" Then there was a click and the dial tone returned.

Ryou would call me every morning at this time and wake me up to see when I was planning on heading to school, but it was the same time every day so I didn't understand why he would always call. I put the phone down and sighed, today would be really strange without him.

An hour later I locked up my apartment and began walking reluctantly to Domino High. It wasn't a very long trip but that morning it seemed to take forever. When I finally arrived, there was no one in the courtyard, implying that I was late, which was really no surprise.

I opened the front door and sped to my grungy locker. I had chemistry first period so I grabbed my text book and headed out.

As I burst through the door my teacher raised her eyebrows at me warningly and I shrugged at her, too tired to speak. I looked around the dreary room, scrutinizing each tired face until I came to one that I couldn't stand to see. Ryou was gazing past my shoulder, his eyes were wide and it seemed as if he was about to cry.

I quickly turned away and walked to my seat, but there was one problem. Jounouchi was in it. My eyes narrowed, and then I remembered that I was Ryou's chemistry partner and he must have asked Jou to take my place because of the awkward tension that had grown between us.

I nodded in acceptance and sat with Jounouchi's partner, Anzu. As much as I hated her, she wasn't too bad, she didn't talk at all. Then I remembered that she was usually an annoying little pussy who never shut her big mouth.

At first it was a nice change of pace, her just sitting there and only speaking when necessary, but then it started to bug me. It got worse and worse until I couldn't bear the silence.

"Why the hell aren't you talking?" I asked, even though I was pretty sure I knew the answer. She glanced at me with sad eyes that looked very odd on her, as she was normally all fun and cheer. She almost instantly turned away. "I don't kn…"

"Yes you do," She bit her lip and continued to avert me. "I'm not stupid." The expression on her face confirmed my suspicions and I shut my eyes as tight as I could. "You think I'm a freak. Just like every body else does." I opened my eyes to see her brown hair flutter out the door.

After school I waited for the regular stampede of students to exit the building before doing so myself. I much prefer not being shoved around in a mass of bodies, thank you. When I was outside I just stood there, looking at nothing in particular until something interrupted me.

"What the hell are you doing?" I trembled when I heard Marik's voice. My heart sped up and I felt as though I would pass out. I had been thinking about this moment all day.

"Oh…nothing really." I mumbled, afraid that he would think I was crazy or something.

He smiled and my mind became blissfully blank. "You're really weird, Malik," He said. "But I like you." I grinned and he grasped my shoulder. "Let's go to my house."

Words cannot express how I felt then.

I had seen Marik's house before, of course, but this time it seemed even more amazing, maybe because he wasn't choking to death. "This is me, number three two three. C'mon." He took my hand and led me through the door.

There was a pleasant aroma about the place. Tasteful furniture and some beautiful pieces of art made it look like it was worth a million dollars. "Marik, is that you?" someone said from behind a door beside me. It was quiet, almost…scared. Maybe a little sister, I thought.

Marik's eyes narrowed as the door opened. Out of it came a middle aged woman, she looked tired and was very thin. She stared at me with wide eyes and touched my shoulder as if she pitied me.

"Mother, do not touch my guests." Marik looked at her as if she was a filthy cockroach. She winced as he spoke and I do not blame her. "Who's this?" She said. It was almost a whisper.

"None of your business," He said, forcefully grasped my arm and pulled me away from the woman. I looked back and saw her shaking her head sympathetically. For the first time I was having second thoughts about going there. I was really scared.

Marik was leading me down a narrow hallway that seemed to get more and more dungeon like as we went on. I bit my lip. This was getting worse and worse. He continued to lead me down the hall until we got to the end. He grasped the knob on a small wooden door and pushed it open, revealing what I assumed was his bedroom. It didn't look very unusual; there were some posters of bands I had never heard of on the wall and a computer desk opposite of them. I let out an unintentional sigh of relief which did not go unnoticed.

"What, did you think I would be a freak or something?" He gently took my hand and stroked it. I looked back to him and raised my eyebrow. He laughed and said, "That's fine with me, as long as I get you in the end."

He then leaned in close to my face and I could feel his hot breath on my neck. I was so nervous, nobody had ever approached me this way. He cupped my chin in his other hand and pressed his lips to mine. It started gently, but did not stay like that for long. Soon his nails were digging into my back, and he was kissing me greedily. I was slammed against the wall as he continued his attempts to stick his tongue down my throat, I wanted to scream to the little woman to help me, but his face was crushed so hard against mine that I could barely get a breath in.

All I could see was Marik's blond hair and cruel eyes, so I was completely perplexed when I heard the faint sound of my zipper being undone. I struggled violently but he managed to hold me down. He looked straight into my now watering eyes and, instead of stopping like any human being with feelings would have done, he grinned.

The first tear burned my skin like acid as it fell down my face. It dawned on me then that no matter what happened he would have his way with me, so I just… gave up. My body went limp and my lips parted.

Marik seized advantage of this, and took complete control over me.

"Marik…" I groaned into his mouth. However it was not one full of pleasure, it was one of pain, and unfathomable misery. He opened one eye and raised his eyebrows. He looked as if he was about to strike me when a phone rang, the sound may have been quiet but in that room with him it was deafening. It penetrated the silence and he was obviously quite irritated by the untimely disruption.

He unkindly dropped me to the ground and strode to where I now saw a small black cell phone.

"Hello." I winced at the amount of aggravation that he was able to pack into that small word. A moment passed and he sighed, looking right into my eyes. "Yes, I understand. I'll be right there."

He slammed shut the phone, placing into his jean pocket. "I have to go. We'll continue this later, but for now just go home. And Malik…" He pulled a jacket over your shirt. "If you tell anyone, or talk to anyone, I'll find out, and we don't want any trouble now do we."

He smirked and lightly kissed my cheek. My hand flew up to the spot as though I thought my skin would start to corrode. This is not what I had expected and now I was in shit.

Deep shit.


	3. The Stalker

Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

(edited thursday, february 19, 2009)

* * *

**Chapter Three**

_There it was, that terrible smile that left me feeling weak, inadequate, and pathetic._

"_And Malik…If you tell anyone, or talk to anyone, I'll find out, and we don't want any trouble now do we."_

I sat straight up and blinked. I could see my bed, dresser, and walls, meaning that I was in my room and not Marik's again. The relief this gave me was immense, and I desperately thought that it had all just been a dream, but somehow I could not find that possible.

My entire body felt contaminated and impure, and I knew why.

It had been real, and the danger I could be in this very moment was just as real. I thought about the images that had replayed in my brain as I slept.

"_And Malik…If you tell anyone, or talk to anyone, I'll find out, and we don't want any trouble now do we."_

Those words had haunted my thoughts ever since they vacated Marik's lips. The way he said them seemed to drill into my bones and leave me completely petrified. I swept off my blankets and moved sloth-like to the bathroom.

There was no real change in my appearance; I don't quite know why I thought there would be. I turned from the mirror and gazed out the window, which was open for some odd reason, but I did not ponder it for long because a vague silhouette had just appeared across the street. I could make out the form of a male, tall and thin. He wasn't moving, just stood there as if he was waiting for something.

Now, any sensible person would assume that the streetlights would illuminate a person's face, but no. It was as if this guy was made of the dark, which wasn't a very relieving thought.

I heard someone trying (and failing) to stifle a laugh. It obviously wasn't old creepy across the street, so I squinted in the direction of the sound and saw a pack of my schoolmates staring at me. I didn't know what the big deal was, I was just standing there looking out the window in my…oh. I thought I had felt a breeze.

My face flushed and I immediately ducked out of view to recover my lost boxers. When I resurfaced, both my classmates and the shadowy figure were gone.

_Good_, I thought to myself, _there shouldn't be people sulking around at…whatever time it is now_. I journeyed into the dark to find any sign of glowing red that might be a clock.

Finally, after knocking over as many random objects as possible, I found my hypothetical treasure.

5:34AM. Are you kidding me.

We have school tomorrow and those idiots were out at 5:30? I sighed, both at the stupidity of people my age and at my uncanny resemblance of an old man.

Anyway, there was no real point in going back to sleep because I normally woke up in about half and hour. I decided to check my email; even though I never use it there really wasn't another way to pass time. I turned my computer on, it made all those incredibly irritating noises that old crappy computers make and my desktop flickered onto the monitor. It was a photograph taken of Ryou and me two years previous, we were both smiling as if the world was made entirely of beautiful blooming flowers and cotton candy rainbows. I believe it was taken after exams.

I groaned. I really did miss my best friend.

In a more pessimistic mood than before, I opened the email window and bit my lip curiously because there were about four new emails from the same unknown sender. I assumed they would be some sort of chain letter or advertisements, but decided to check them out anyway.

I opened the first message with a closed mind, and read its contents.

"Hello Malik,

I'm coming to visit you soon. Don't worry about telling me your address, I did some digging.

Well, see you."

I blinked. Convincing myself it was just Ryou trying to scare me, knowing for a fact that he wouldn't even think about it, I opened the next email.

It said exactly the same thing. I clicked the 'next' button again, and again, and again. They were all repeats of the first one.

This was all very strange, I didn't know anyone but Ryou even had my email, but I had a suspect in mind. I closed the window and began the long and vigorous process of shutting down the computer. It beeped, bopped, and blipped all over again, but there was another sound among those.

The doorbell.

I jerked my head towards the door, hoping that maybe I had, in the last fifteen seconds, developed x-ray vision.

Unfortunately, I am not a lucky person.

The doorbell rung again and the person felt the need to add some knocks as well. I ambled down the hall to the front door and, after whispering my final words, decided to take a shot in the dark. I counted to three, and flung open the door.

I took a look at my soon-to-be killer and felt a pang of idiocy. It was Bakura.

"Hmm, now why would Bakura want to kill me?" I thought out loud. He gave me a questioning look and I realized my mistake. "Uh, I'm sorry. Just had a…a strange morning." He nodded, glancing anywhere but my eyes. He seemed really uncomfortable.

"I need to talk to you, it's important." I was surprised, obviously. Not only had Bakura only spoke to me once, but I had no idea he could be serious. Plus he knew where I lived.

"Alright, just let me get dressed. Come in." I opened the door wider for him and he brushed past me. The cold breeze drifting in the open door was making me shiver, so I quickly slammed it shut.

"It's cold out so, wear something warm." Bakura clapped his hands together and gave a weak smile, to which I replied with an appreciative nod. I then shuffled to my bedroom, slipped on a black and grey striped sweater with dark washed blue jeans and a pair of my finest wool socks.

I brushed my teeth and hair, and then returned to the quiet sitting room.

I took a seat on the chair opposite where Bakura was perched on the couch. "So, what did you want to talk about?" He looked up, straight into my eyes, and then sighed.

"Marik."

My eyes widened momentarily, and I saw a flicker of sorrow pass through his. I became suddenly fascinated with the sunrise and tried to shut out his voice. That is, until…

"I know what happened yesterday." This time I gazed right into those deep brown orbs of his, somehow knowing that he wasn't lying.

"But, how could you know?" My voice was quiet, barely more than a whisper.

"He told me, obviously. I am his best friend, plus he's a cocky jackass." He smirked for a moment, and then put his dead serious expression back on. "Look, Malik, you really don't want to get involved with someone like him. He's…dangerous."

"Yeah, I got that after he tried to rape me." He closed his eyes.

"Listen, it goes so much deeper than that." As he opened his eyes, I noticed they were watering. "When we were younger, his dad was an alcoholic. Every night he'd go out and get drunk, then come back and beat his mother. One day Marik and I came back from baseball practice and… saw he had her up against the wall by her throat. Marik couldn't take it anymore I guess, so he took his baseball bat and just…" Bakura swallowed and looked at the floor, "smashed it into the side of his head, over and over and over."

I was in shock, I had assumed that Marik's family had a sketchy history but it never occurred to me that he had killed his own father. "That's terrible," I began, but Bakura cut me off.

"That's just the start. After that incident, at the beginning of junior high he began to disappear for days at a time. I became suspicious and followed him once, and came to this old warehouse on the outskirts of town. It was a crystal meth lab, Malik. Can you imagine? It was fucking awful in there." He brought his fist down on the cushion beside him and yelled. "He was only thirteen! Those other druggie shits were three times his age!"

There are no words in the English vocabulary to describe how I was feeling. Bakura looked into my eyes again and frowned. "But I think you're too far in now. He's already decided on you." He was now looking past my shoulder and out the window. I turned around and saw the outline of a tall, thin male, the man who was standing outside earlier.

"I have to go, Malik, but see you at school okay?" He stood up and shook my trembling hand. As he opened the door he said, in a stern and surprisingly concerned voice, "please be careful."

He was about to leave when I remembered something. "Hey, how did you find my email address? You know, to send those emails" He looked at me curiously and frowned.

"I never sent you any emails."

Then, he was gone.

This made me feel very uncomfortable. If not Bakura, then who had sent them? I was just going to collect my schoolwork when my cell rang from beneath a pile of newspapers. Ryou's number was on the caller ID, must be a mistake call again.

"Hey, Ryou listen," I started, but I was cut off by a man's voice, Ryou's father. He sounded strange.

"Malik," He almost whispered, "Ryou's in the hospital. Last night, he… he tried to take his own life."

My phone fell to the floor, followed closely by my body.


	4. The Intruder

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, and sorry if this took a while. School can really suck.

(edited thursday, february 19, 2009)

* * *

**Chapter Four**

There was an eerie silence about the hospital, the silence where there is noise, but it's all united into one constant droning.

SLAM.

That is, it was like that until I entered the building.

I had never in my life been so…terrified, or anxious, or confused. I strode hastily towards the front desk, where I spotted Ryou's father whispering in a low tone with one of the secretaries. I called out to announce my arrival. My voice sounded hoarse, as if I had forgotten how to use my voice and was learning again for the first time.

He turned me and, from what I could tell through my blurry, watering eyes, gave me a look of pure hatred.

Without warning the man seized my collar and slammed me against the wall, quite painfully I might add. "All of this is your fault!" I stared with wide, stunned eyes at my best friend's father, why was he blaming me for this? He squeezed my shoulders to the point that I felt as if the bone would pop out of its socket and I fought the urge to scream, or just nail that son of a bitch where the son don't shine.

"You should have heard him crying because of you!" On the last word he spat at me, his fist met my cheek. It was like, fist, meet cheek, cheek, this is fist. They "hit it off" right away; wow I'm so not funny. My own hand flew to my face and I felt a warm liquid drip onto my fingers. He gaped at my face, then at his hand in disbelief.

"I…I…" He stuttered. It seemed he had something to say but I really did not want to talk to him just then, so I pushed past him and asked for Ryou's room, though I just may have needed one myself. The receptionist gave me one of those "shouldn't you be in the psychiatric wing" looks but reluctantly gave me Ryou's room number.

"Malik, please wait!" I heard the man yelling as I walked to the elevator, but when I got inside the elevator and turned around, he looked possibly even more pissed at me than before. The last thing I saw before the doors closed was him running at me, screaming incomprehensible words.

Then, when I thought I was a dead man, I began to rise.

It was completely silent in the elevator, and not the silence I described earlier, but the kind where there is absolutely no sound. Not even music, which disappointed me, I liked that music. I looked at myself in the huge mirrors that lined the walls. The skin on my cheekbone was swollen to a sickening size, painted with various tones of blue and purple and red. The door slid open a moment later.

Ryou's room was 348, so since I was currently in front of 339 I went to the right, where the numbers ascended. When finally I stood before room 348, my entire body was trembling and my eyes grew watery once more. Was I really ready to see my best friend lying half dead on a cot?

Well, there was only one way to find out.

As the door slowly creaked open I glued my eyes to the floor, dreading the moment when I would have to look up at Ryou. No sound came from his bed, no excited gasps, no angry grunts, nothing. I stopped when I could see the leg of the bed in my peripheral vision and took in a deep breath of the cool, sterile air.

I had to look.

My gaze drifted upward and I saw him. He was just lying there, with a peaceful look on his face, as if the world was entirely free of all struggles and conflict and was just a great place to be. But I knew that this wasn't true. His neck was plastered in bandages stained deep red. My stomach knotted up and I could taste vomit bubbling up in my throat, the sight of him made me feel like shit.

All of this was my fault; I just had to like Marik, didn't I? I just had to be too vulnerable and too weak when he was around. His beauty and lies had trapped me in this fucked up mess, all I had wanted was to feel…well, loved.

But now all I wanted was out. All I wanted was to be with Ryou again. All I wanted was lying in a hospital bed dying and I couldn't do anything about it.

I heard the faint click of the door closing and felt the presence of another person in the room. A feminine cough echoed off the walls, it was a woman then. Probably a nurse, come to change those sickening, blood stained bandages.

I was turning to see her when the first gunshot sounded.

I instinctively put my head in my hands, covering my entire face. With no vision I blindly stumbled around the room, eventually tripping over a cable and falling hard onto something warm, and breathing.

It was Ryou, I knew it. The vomit burst from my mouth, probably all over him but I couldn't help it. Another shot rang through the hospital, and I heard a scream in the room, followed by footsteps and the slam of a door. The woman was gone now, and I was all alone with my unconscious, bloody, vomit-covered best friend.

I opened my eyes, the smell of my own puke burning my nostrils. Ryou was still unconscious; he must have taken a shit load of painkillers to be that out of it. I could hear that the whole hospital was in panic, screams drifted through the hallways and alarms went off like bombs. There were several more shots; whoever this was must have really wanted to get something.

I looked up from the mess I had created and ran. Ran as if when I stopped the world would end and everything would perish into oblivion. Another shot sounded from below, but this time it was considerably louder.

Whoever this nut job was, they were getting closer.

I saw an open door further down the hallway I was currently burning rubber on. I tried to slow down, no such luck. I still managed to slide into the room, but in the process my elbow nailed the hard wood door, and it hurt like hell. I nursed the arm and collapsed onto the tile floor. After the pain had somewhat faded away, I glanced around the room I had erupted into.

There were two men, sitting in leather chairs, both wearing pale blue security uniforms and I noticed that beyond their shoulders was a large wall of surveillance screens. The men were looking at me like I was the first person they'd ever seen before, but got over their shock quickly. However, they still seemed pretty damn nervous, but then again, who could blame them.

A sudden thought came to my mind. "Hey," my voice sounded too loud and really weird. "Can't you see the intruder with those cameras? And where they are?"

One of the men, who had a gaunt, sunken face and smelled strongly of cigarettes, rolled his eyes at me. "Of course we can, if not what would the whole point of this system be, kid?" When he said this I felt a stab of incredible foolishness. Of course the cameras would see the guy. That was what they were made for.

"Well, what do they look like?" I asked, standing up and taking a small step towards the cameras.

The other man, fat and balding, swung his chair towards a computer keyboard and began typing. A grey photograph opened on one of the screens, but I was too far away to see clearly. "It's a male. Darker skin and pretty light hair from what I can tell. Tall and thin, but strong, real strong, he's taken down three hospital employees and six security guards." His face reflected in one of the screens and I saw that it was full of some kind of impressed disgust at what this guy could do. "The little shit never misses a shot. He's good."

I nodded slowly, digesting all the news this man was feeding me. "So where is he now, then…?" I said, more to myself than anything. The skinny man glanced at the surveillance screens, eying each one carefully.

"Well, he's not in any of the main areas, and I haven't heard a shot in the last minute or so." He rubbed his hands together thoughtfully. "So he must either have left or gone into a patient's room."

My eyes grew wider than they already were, if that was possible. If this man was in a patient's room, it was very possible that Ryou could be that patient. "Do you have any cameras in the rooms?" I asked, praying that the man would give me the answer I needed to hear.

"Nope, that would violate their privacy."

_Ugh_, I thought. _Thanks a lot, God; you really love me today don't you._

Before another word was uttered, I ran full speed out the door and back towards Ryou. The hallway was filled with police officers, doctors, and the odd patient who had wandered from their bed in the confusion. I slowed down slightly, but still left a trail of destruction in my wake. People shouted obscenities from behind me but I paid them no attention.

As I turned the last corner, I seemed to enter another dimension altogether. There was not a single person in this corridor, there was just bland, white emptiness stretched on forever. The voices that had one moment ago filled my ears now faded into simple white noise.

Yet there was another sound, someone talking. It was not frantic and troubled, like the other voices had been, but it was pleased, almost mockingly calm. I pressed my ear to each door as I moved stealthily down the hall, soon I found myself planted at the foot of room 348. My head inched slowly towards the door and my worst fears were confirmed. The intruder was with Ryou.

I wanted to scream, to run away and never look back but I knew that I would never be able to do that. So my hand touched the cool metal of the doorknob, slippery because of sweat and the tremors that went through my entire body. I turned it as slow as I could, and the talking immediately ceased. They knew someone was out here.

There was silence then, the kind of silence I described at the beginning of this awful morning, for I could still hear the drone of police and doctors behind me. I don't know what force stopped me from screaming out to them and getting the hell out of this hospital once and for all, but it must have been pretty damn strong.

I felt a tug on my hand and the door was jerked open. Marik was standing before me, an evil smile on his lips and as he pulled me closer I saw Ryou utter a silence cry of anguish.

I was close to fainting, never did I suspect that Marik would go this far to get to me, but there he was. My moment of weakness did not go unnoticed by him; I could tell because he violently took both of my hands and tied them behind my back. He then shoved me into one of the waiting chairs, and the combination of shock and pain was enough to keep me down.

I heard the door slam suddenly, and then the room became excruciatingly quiet. Marik leaned over me and gently stroked my chin with his index finger.

"So," his voice was full of sickening self glory and amusement. "We meet again." I would have punched him right in his cocky nose, but my fists were currently inaccessible.

Ryou was sitting upright in his cot, cheeks stained with tears, and staring at the back of Marik's head with hatred that I had never seen on his pale face before. There was vomit all over his robe and blood seeping through those god damn bandages.

Marik slapped me hard in the face to regain my attention and I painfully obeyed his silent order, staring straight into his evil, heartless, yet gorgeous eyes. He grinned and pulled a silver handgun from his jacket.

I groaned. He laughed and stroked the gun as if it was a dog that had just won the national show. "Pretty, isn't it?" I shook my head no, and then his expression turned livid. "I know you talked to Bakura, you bitch, and once I'm done here I'm going to ring him by his scrawny traitorous neck. Got it?" My eyes burned with tears and hatred towards him, but I could do absolutely nothing.

He took the gun and pointed it at me. "You have a lot of nerve, sneaking behind my back, getting my 'best friend' to tell you shit about me. However, I have a feeling that won't happen again after this…" His grin widened and I prepared for the bullet to penetrate me.

Marik removed the safety on the gun and was pulling the trigger when a cup flew at his arm from Ryou's cot. The cup knocked off Marik's aim, but the bullet still flew from the barrel and lodged itself into my arm, spurting deep red blood all over my shirt. Another shot reverberated off the square room's walls but I was too preoccupied to look for the damage. I heard a gasp of surprise leave Ryou's lips and the doorknob twist open, then the slamming came again, leaving my ears ringing and the pain in my arm unbearable.

A few moments later, through the tears in my eyes I saw three people in pale blue scrubs enter the room. Two went over to Ryou's bed and the other rushed to me. They were talking to me, asking me questions and barking commands to one another, one of them touched my arm and a scream that did not sound at all human came out of me.

But the worst pain came when the doctor at Ryou's bed shouted, "This one's gone."


	5. The Friend

Hey, this is KT

Sorry if it took a while, but here it is, so enjoy.

BAKURA'S POV PEOPLE

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

(edited thursday, february 19, 2009)

**Chapter 5**

I glanced around the classroom. It was second period and I hadn't seen Malik or Marik at all yet today, and that was very discomforting. I knew what Marik could do, and probably would do, to the other boy. I sighed, the teacher was giving me a get-back-to-work-you-lazy-mongrel look, and so I focused my attention back to whatever I was supposed to be reading, Hamlet or Juliet or something. It could be the rules for Super Mario 64 for all I cared. After a few moments my thoughts drifted back to Malik. I decided that after the bell I would call him and find out what the hell was going on.

Three more minutes, the lack of knowledge was making me anxious and scared. _He probably just decided to take the day off_, I told myself, though I knew that I didn't believe it.

When the bell sounded, I waited for the other students to rush out like a herd of cattle, being pushed around never did float my boat. I then placed my books in the locker I shared with Marik, taking out my jacket and phone and heading off to my favorite deli a few blocks down. People kept rushing up to me, asking in terrified awe if I would give them the pleasure of eating lunch with them. "No," I said, every time, and every time I got the same pathetic, heart broken look. Not that I cared, really. Though I may have been popular I was never one to be social.

The deli was secluded, which is pretty much why I liked it so much. I came here to be alone and think, even Marik did not know about it. I smiled at the manager and took a seat near the back. I slipped out my cell and, with my stomach in my throat, realized that I had no clue what Malik's number was. "Shit…" I mumbled. I scrolled through my contacts list, wondering bitterly if any of these people even knew who Malik was, let alone his phone number.

I stopped at a name close to the bottom, Yugi Mutou. He knew Malik, right? He had been there that one day, when Marik had almost killed himself laughing. I decided to call.

It rang six times before Yugi picked up, I knew that cell phones were prohibited in our school, but that didn't stop any of the students from bringing them. It was kind of sad, when you thought about it, how they were disobeyed, but then one of the teachers would give out a huge assignment and suddenly it wasn't so sad anymore.

"Hi?" Yugi had an incredibly high voice for a high school senior; he was also short as hell.

"Hi, it's Bakura. I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

A thoughtful silence, followed by, "yeah, what do you need?"

"Malik Ishtar's phone number, please. Do you have it?"

"One sec, okay, here we go. It's 808 6489, but this had better be important," I heard Yugi sigh, "he's dealing with a lot right now, I don't know what, but he and Ryou have been in a fight and…well, things with him just don't seem right.

I knew what he meant. "Thank you," I mumbled, and then hung up.

With quivering fingers I dialed Malik's number, wondering why the hell I cared so much about this guy. One ring, two rings, three- wait, I heard a faint click and Malik's voice. "Hello? Who is this?"

"It's Bakura, you didn't come to school today, and I was worried…so…"

"Oh…" Malik sounded incredibly upset. "It…It's nothing. I'm just not feeling well."

I frowned. "That's a lie. You know it and I know it. Now tell me why you aren't here."

Silence. Then after a moment I heard Malik's voice again. "Um, you see, I didn't come today because after you left my friend's dad called." As Malik told me what happened I furrowed my eyebrows in anger. It was exactly as i had thought, only worse. When the boy was finished, he was crying.

"I'm so, so sorry Malik." That was all I could manage to say. So many feelings were bubbling up in me, feelings that I hadn't experienced in a long time. "I'm going to come to the hospital. I really doubt Marik can get there without being caught or killed or something, after all, it's only been a few hours."

Malik seemed to debate this for a while, but eventually agreed.

I left the deli, waving goodbye to the manager that I did not even know the name of. As I walked the distance to Domino City Hospital, I could not help feeling as if I was being followed, and there was no doubt in my mind about who would do such a thing.

There were dozens of cop cars and ambulances surrounding the hospital, along with a massive crowd of citizens. _It's sick_, I thought, _how people seem to be drawn to an accident like moths are to light. Someone shouts "blood" and all of a sudden you have a mob of people itching for a glance._

It was a struggle to push through to the front of the swarm, but I managed it, thanking God that I was thin. I peeked around the throng of emergency vehicles, and saw a head of blood stained golden hair. "Malik!" I shouted out, the boy turned sharply to face me, and a weak smile that seemed more like a grimace appeared on his thin lips. I noticed that a few of the cops were staring menacingly at me, as if daring me to cross the yellow caution tape. I was about to take them up on this challenge when a pair of rough hands seized me and dragged me back into the mob.

I couldn't seem to escape this person's grasp; panic ran ice cold through my veins and completely froze me. It couldn't be Marik. There was no way he would be able to get this close to the place he had just shot up, not even he was that careless. I felt nauseous. There were hordes of people closing in on me and I couldn't breathe. There was vomit threatening to explode out of my mouth but it never came. It seeped up my throat, teasing me. All I wanted was out, and right fucking now.

All of a sudden clear, fresh air was filling my lungs. Bright sunlight glared in my eyes and most of the nausea had disappeared with the crowd. But not all of it, definitely not all of it, because I knew that I was probably going to die right then.

The man was pulling me into an alley, _classic_, I thought smugly. I imagined a pack of thugs waiting for me. There were, however, no people in the side street. Only garbage and the faint outline of a door farther down; through this door was apparently where the man was taking me.

"Drag your ass this way, punk," the man said in a deep voice. He took an agonizingly rough grip on my shoulder and pushed me towards the door. I wanted to cry, but there was no way in hell I was going to show this creep an ounce of weakness, well, emotionally anyways. Judging by this man's clutch, I wouldn't be able to take him down with a sledge hammer, so I obeyed and staggered to the door. "Open it." I took a hold of the knob and realized that my hands were trembling. Very slowly I turned it, and it opened with a loud, drawn out creak that made me feel a cold finger slip down my spine. I unintentionally gasped; the man laughed and shoved me inside.

At first, I could see nothing. I heard my own harsh breaths and the man behind me grunting at the inconvenient lack of light. The darkness made my heart race. I could make a run for it and the muscle factory behind me wouldn't even notice. I decided to go for it. I clenched my hands into sweaty fists and took a deep breath, then began to run.

Unfortunately for me, my very first footstep brought forth an unexpected and incredibly loud crunch of broken glass. The man seemed to have been prepared for this, because he firmly grasped my waste before I could even move two feet. "I don't think so, boy," he whispered into my ear. It made me want to scream. The fact that I had no control over the situation was practically unbearable. I felt his eyes burn, but I would not let a tear fall.

By this time, both of our eyes had adjusted to the dark setting, and so we pushed on down a narrow corridor to where I could now see a faint light flickering. A laugh echoed down the hallway, causing me to shiver as it was eerily familiar. Now that I could see, I took a look at the place. Needles, syringes, and the shattered remnants of beer bottles lined the filthy walls, which were plastered with disgusting graffiti. A smell similar to that of burning plastic was evident in the building, and suddenly I knew all to well where I was and who had brought me here. This was immediately confirmed when the man shoved me into a dimly lit, strong smelling room.

"Well," I heard Marik's voice declare. I was looking down at the floor to avoid his amused glare. "How nice of you to pop in, Bakura!" It was getting more and more difficult to hold down tears now, Marik was my best friend! How could he do this? There was some laughter in reply to Marik's comment and it made me want to stab the owner of every single laugh I heard. It took all the strength in my body to look up at Marik, but I managed it. There was no need to look around the room, I already knew it was my friend's meth lab and the laughers were his fellow junkies. It made me sick to my stomach but I knew it was true.

"What the fuck are you doing to Malik?" I said suddenly. I cursed myself inwardly. I had meant to sound strong and threatening, but my voice came out weak and scared. Marik frowned and his eyes flickered, almost glowed, with wickedness.

"Why is it any of your business who I play games with," he said, smiling, "it's impolite to ruin someone's fun." The junkies laughed. "Besides, it's getting too risky now, so I'm pretty much done with him."

I gasped, momentarily choking on my saliva and traces of vomit. My vision was blurring and my head hurt like a bitch. "Please, please say you're not going to kill him!" I shouted, the sound echoing off of the stone walls. "You can't!"

Marik smiled, and I knew then and there that my old best friend was gone forever. That one terrible smile burned into my memory. Marik took a step towards me, and whispered so that only I could hear, "I'm not going to," I felt a cold, metal object slide into my hands and, however much I told myself not to, began to cry.

"You are."


	6. The Invitation

Wow this took forever, sorry, I'm a perfectionist. I just look back and scrutinize what I say haha.

This story is a little bit darker than I predicted 0_0, but oh well.

Sticking with the Bakura POV here, and this chapter takes place about a week or so after the last one.

Once again, Yu-Gi-Oh is not mine, hope you enjoy. ;)

(edited thursday, february 19, 2009)

* * *

**Chapter 6 **

I opened the wooden gate that led to Malik's front yard, not for the first time and definitely not for the last. I did it reluctantly, of course, for one could not help being so when they were entering the home of a person they were to kill one day. But despite wishing that I had never met the handsome blond and that I was currently residing in Honolulu or some other far off land, I was also incredibly excited. You see, over the last week or so I had spent a lot of time with the boy, helping him heal and get back on his feet, because who else did he have? No one, that's who, unless you count Yugi and, as Malik had said the first night I went to see him, the Friendship Freaks, who came over sometimes, but I don't. They just pitied him. So, after being with him for a good portion of the week, I had developed strong… well… to put it simply, I loved him, and this complicated things.

Flashback:

Marik had taken him into an empty room of the meth lab, wishing to have a private word with him. Police sirens where blaring outside, and Marik's junkies were obviously itching to leave before the cops did a clean sweep of the area. His pompous grin had faded away and been replaced by a completely apathetic frown. "I'm serious about this, 'Kura." Hearing this monster say his childhood nickname made him flinch. He clenched his fists and fought down the almost irresistible urge to beat the other boy to a pulp. "Either he's dead in the next month, or you both are, got it?" He nodded, swallowing an enormous lump in his throat that was threatening to burst.

"I got it," He had said, voice quivering with fear and hatred, "one month."

End Flashback

I grasped the cold, round doorknob and felt the palm of my hand go numb as I heaved a long sigh. One month, that was approximately four weeks, or thirty one days, or forty four thousand six hundred forty minutes, but saying it differently wouldn't do anything. There was no way of making it longer, no matter how desperately I wished there was.

I twisted the knob and stepped quietly inside, no one was in the front porch or living room. I took off my shoes, tossing them into the slightly open closet with Malik's.

"Bakura?" I heard his voice echo from upstairs down into the entrance.

"Yeah, it's me."

"I'll be down in a second." Footsteps creaked as I sat down on the couch. My eyes wandered blankly from one side of the room to the other, absently analyzing each detail. My gaze rested on a seemingly old photograph of two boys, it perked my interest and I decided to inspect it more closely. I stood up and slowly walked towards the mahogany table it was placed upon, once there I carefully picked it up.

The frame was a metallic gold, and printed in childishly simple block letters in the bottom right corner was the phrase "best friends forever." It was beautiful, but its beauty was petite compared to that of the actual photo. Two boys of about age 15 were sitting on a luscious field of brilliantly green grass. One boy had a pale complexion and angelic white hair, the other was bronze and blonde, but both of them shared one feature, and that was their ear-to-ear smiles that seemed to glow even in the bright mid day sunlight. Just by looking at the expressions on their faces I could sense an incredible closeness between the two, and they seemed to be laughing at something that only they knew then and only they would ever know. It was obviously Malik and Ryou, and this sent a pang of sympathy for Malik through my body.

"What are you looking at?" The blonde's curious voice sent a chill up my spine and I turned quickly to face it, attempting to silently place the picture back onto the table behind me.

"Oh, nothing, I was just stretching." He raised an eyebrow at me and peered questioningly around my back. Apparently my skills in stealth were becoming rusty, judging by the look of sorrow and anger that appeared suddenly in his eyes. "I…I'm sorry." I said quietly, I didn't know what else to do.

For a moment he looked into my brown eyes with his violet ones, and it was amazing how as soft as they were, they could feel so sharp. He looked back to the picture and with great care took it into his hands. "It's really a nice picture, isn't it?" The corners of his mouth curved up into a small smile, and I could see that he was thinking about the day that photograph was taken. I grinned as well.

"Yeah, it really is."

His gaze lingered on the picture, and mine on him, until a faint rumble broke the serene silence. Malik placed a hand on his stomach and blushed. "Sorry about that, I haven't eaten all day." He began walking towards the kitchen.

"Wait, why don't we go out to eat?" He glanced at me over his shoulder, looking thoughtful. I smirked. "I mean, I understand if you don't want to go out in public, you're not exactly presentable." He turned fully and glared, but the harsh look quickly melted into a grin, and he laughed.

"Fine. Just let me change my bandages and become 'presentable'." He walked past me, lightly punching my shoulder with his uninjured arm. When he disappeared up the stairs I reclaimed my seat on the couch. It was great to see his smile again; I never thought I'd witness another one after what happened with Ryou, and that snake Marik. Rage erupted inside of me at the mere mention of his name. I shook my head and placed it in my hands, I was about to go to dinner with Malik, I sure as hell shouldn't be clouding my head with thoughts of that bastard. The boy was happy, and as little as I understood why, that fact made me happy too.

That is, until the duty Marik had entrusted to me seeped back into my mind.

If this had been two weeks ago, I would have had little to no second thoughts about taking a life to spare my own. Cruel, I know, but I was a cruel person. However in light of recent events, I found the confidence I had in my ability to do such a thing waning. Was it because of my feelings for Malik, or my own selfishness? Maybe Malik would be better off dead, but if that came to pass, how would my life be?

I sighed. All of this thinking was taking a major toll on my mental (hell, even physical) health. Hopefully when I actually understood my feelings I could just relax.

"Hey, you alright?" Malik's voice surprised me once again. I snapped my head up and blinked. The other's eyes were full of concern, which was something I was not at all accustomed to seeing as my former best friend was a psychotic drug addict and everyone else was either scared of me or didn't care. I felt incredible gratitude towards Malik at this moment.

"Yeah, I'll be fine now, thanks." I smiled and got to my feet, stumbling from the threat of an impending headache. Malik grasped my shoulder, allowing my balance to return, and narrowed his eyes. I raised my eyebrows in assurance and said, "I'm okay, I promise." He still didn't seem convinced, but let me go and began walking to the door nonetheless. I followed him out into the crisp winter atmosphere, gasping at the sudden change in temperature.

"So where do you want to go?" I heard Malik's voice after a few minutes, snapping me out of my frozen stupor. I glanced up and he was gazing absently into my eyes. I quickly looked away, my face feeling warm despite the cold temperature. Damn! Was I really becoming this foolish? Thankfully the younger boy hadn't noticed, more than likely shrugging it off as another odd personality quirk of mine. I shrugged, still looking at the sidewalk beneath my feet. Suddenly, an idea came to my mind. I began walking in the opposite direction, leaving him behind.

"Follow me."

We walked for about twenty minutes. We probably could have made it there faster but it was fucking freezing and I could feel the wind trying to knock me backwards. Just when I could feel my extremities begin to go numb I saw, through the chaotic snowfall, our destination. I walked briskly towards the building, not stopping for anything until I opened the door and was embraced by soothing heat. I closed my eyes and just stood in the entrance until I heard knocking from behind me and a muted voice shouting something along the lines of "you're blocking the door, jackass!"

I moved, and Malik burst through the door. He glowered at me and I shrugged, trying to suppress my laughter. He looked ridiculous. "Sorry, buddy. Oh, and by the way it looks like you've got a little dandruff problem going on."

I reached out and fluffed his hair, sending white snowflakes all over. I turned away from him and grinned, this was going to be fun.

Okay, I realize this isn't the longest (or most eventful) chapter ever but it took ages so I'm just going to update what I have for now and get working on the next part which, hopefully, will NOT take half a year.

:)


	7. The Realization

Okay, so I went through this story and changed a few things, such as Malik referring to Marik as "you," because that was annoying me and probably confusing some people.

This story will probably be a few more chapters, and I have a pretty clear idea as to where I'm going with it.

Thank you so much to anyone who reads this, and I would really appreciate it if you took the time to review. Knowing what I'm doing right or wrong would be very helpful.

Also, I still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

* * *

**Chapter Seven  
**

We took a seat by the window, although there wasn't really a whole lot to see on the other side. Damn snowstorm. This fact did not really affect me a great deal, however, as my attention was not focused on the white upon white that was outside, but rather straight across from me. Malik was staring curiously out of the window. He licked his slightly parted lips and spoke. "When you're not trapped freezing in the damn stuff it's not that bad… pretty beautiful, actually."

"Yeah…" I said. _Great comment Bakura_, I scorned myself. _Really intelligent_. I couldn't help myself, though. I stared at his eyes and thought about how amazing it was that they perfectly reflected the snow they were focused on. Lavender and white blended together stunningly. Plump droplets of melted snow rested precariously on his long eyelashes, threatening to fall off and run down his sun-kissed cheeks (one still sporting a purple bruise from Ryou's father) and eventually his thin pink lips, which were suddenly brought up into an amused smile.

"Like what you see? Or is there some other reason you were staring at my lips like that?" I blinked and brought my gaze back up to his eyes which no longer reflected the snow but my surprised expression. I quickly recovered however, narrowing my eyes.

"Please, don't flatter yourself." I said, the grin faded slightly from his face but did not disappear. He looked around.

"So… where are we anyway?" He asked.

"Um," I glanced around for something that would reveal the name of this place which for the life of me I could never remember. I picked up a menu and read off the cover. "Penny's Deli." He raised an eyebrow at me.

"You mean you didn't know the name of this place before just now?" He asked.

"No…" I admitted. His eyebrow climbed slightly higher and disappeared behind his bangs. "But I know it's good, I come here a lot, so stop mocking me and choose something to order." He laughed, and began flipping absently through the menu. He stopped, read something off one of the pages and nodded in satisfaction, then closed the menu just as I heard the footsteps of our server approaching.

"Hello, are you two ready to order?" A cheerful feminine voice asked, Malik nodded and I just grunted impatiently, proceeding to blurt out what I wanted.

"Steak sandwich, rare, and I mean very rare, with coke." Our waitress gave me a questioning look, and then turned her attention to Malik.

"I'll have a garden salad, hot chocolate, and a cinnamon bun please." He said. The waitress took our menus and walked away, very quickly I might add. It was my turn to raise an eyebrow.

"A salad? Wow, you're more of a pussy than I thought." He scoffed, throwing a packet of sugar at my face, which I dodged easily.

"I'm a vegetarian, idiot. And at least I'm not the one who's going to end up with salmonella." I scowled at him and he laughed. His face was even more striking when he was smiling, if that was even possible, and my frown vanished at the sight. His expression neutralized and he once again turned to gaze out the window. He cleared his throat and was about to say something when our waitress conveniently returned. She set our meals on the table and smiled nervously.

"Here you go, I hope you enjoy your-" she began in her irritatingly happy, yet somewhat frightened voice, which thankfully was silenced when I gripped my steak sandwich in both hands and devoured about half of it in one bite. I could feel eyes on me and looked up in annoyance.

"What?" I managed to mumble, a few pieces of barely cooked meat escaped from my mouth and landed scattered on the tablecloth. I narrowed my eyes at the shocked and disgusted expression on our servers face. "You can leave now." I stated bluntly. However, from the confused look I was getting my words were not as clear as they had sounded in my head, so I just opened my mouth wide and flipped her the bird. Needless to say she disappeared pretty quickly.

I turned to Malik, mouth still hanging open, and was met by a disgusted glare. I quickly swallowed. "There, happy?"

"I think I'm traumatized." A scowl lingered on his lips but I could see the amusement in his eyes.

I took another bite from my sandwich, watching perhaps a little too intently as Malik placed a cherry tomato between his lips and slowly sucked it into his mouth. I felt the material of my pants tighten at the crotch. I chanced a quick brush of my hand against my groin and let out an unintentional groan of pleasure. Malik tilted his head to one side while licking some tomato juice off of his thumb. I swallowed.

"Uh, bathroom. Be right back." While sitting up I attempted to position myself so that he wouldn't notice my now full-on erection. I glanced down at him, and thought I had seen him smirk. If he did, however, it was gone in a moment. He smiled innocently and brought his hot chocolate up to his lips. Why was I standing up again? Some warm liquid seeped out of the small drinking hole and spread over the lid of the cup. Malik swiftly dipped his head down and began to suck it up.

Oh…that's right. Bathroom.

I began to walk, knowing very well that I looked fucking mental. You try walking in tight jeans with a hard-on, it's not easy. I practically ran into the bathroom, and the moment the door closed shut behind me I was unzipping my pants. Sitting on the toilet, now with my pants and briefs around my ankles, I began to stroke at my member. I moaned, closing my eyes as images of Malik came into my mind and my hand subconsciously wrapped around my erection and began pumping.

Malik sucking the cherry tomato into his mouth… only in my mind it wasn't a cherry tomato. Malik's tongue licking, Malik's slender fingers caressing… Oh God. I groaned and began to pump faster. So close…

Finally release came, and I finished into my trembling palm. I sat still for a minute, recovering my breath and allowing the bliss of orgasm to pass, before standing and redressing.

When I returned to the table Malik stared at me curiously, but thankfully chose not to say anything. I yawned. "I'm tired, are you finished?" I asked.

He glanced down at his plate. "Yeah, I'm full." I looked down as well and frowned. The salad was only half eaten and it looked as if he had barely touched his cinnamon bun. I looked up and met his eyes, which were begging me not to mention it. I sighed, but succumbed to the request. We waited for our bill in uncomfortable silence, Malik looking out the window and I at him. I saw his lips moving and realized he was speaking.

"…loved the snow." He was still looking out the window. I could see tears in his eyes, what was he talking about?

"What?"

His eyes closed, and he rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "I miss him."

Oh. I shifted awkwardly, not knowing what to do exactly. The waitress dropped our bill on the table but I hardly noticed. His eyelids rose and a tear rolled slowly down his cheek. "I miss him so much."

I opened my mouth to say something comforting, but found that I had absolutely nothing. So instead I opted to lean forward and wipe the tear off of his face. My hand lingered on his cheek and he stared at me. Our eyes met for a moment before my gaze flickered down to his lips. I began to lean in further and…

"Um, let's go." I felt his smooth hand remove mine from his face as he pulled away. I looked at him for a few seconds and nodded.

"Okay."

We stood, each leaving a few paper bills on the table before walking towards the door. Thankfully, the blizzard had settled down. All that remained was a cold breeze and a blanket of white that covered everything.

The walk back to Malik's was endured in silence, neither one of us wanting to discuss what had occurred in the diner. Malik walked a few paces ahead of me, staring down at his feet as he robotically placed one in front of the other. I frowned, but said nothing.

When we reached his house, I was unsure whether or not to follow him inside, but he left the door open as he removed his shoes and went into the living room, so I did. I kicked off my shoes and saw that he was sitting on the far end of the couch. I sat beside him, glancing nervously at him in case he made any protests. He flinched slightly, so I moved a bit further away. He coughed.

"Bakura?"

He was fidgeting with his hands, staring down at them intently. "Yeah?"

"Are you… you know, gay?"

I bit my lip, not expecting him to ask so openly although I probably should have, what with my display earlier. I too looked at my hands.

"…Yeah."

"Oh."

Silence. It was one of the most awkward situations of my life.

"Bakura?"

"Yeah?" I turned towards him and was met by the feeling of soft lips against mine. My eyes widened, and then closed in a matter of seconds as I began to react to the kiss, placing a firm hand on the back of his neck. My tongue snaked between his lips and I could taste the remnants of chocolate and cinnamon. The kiss was gentle, I knew he was in a fragile state and did not want to overwhelm him, no matter what the muscle between my legs was telling me. I felt liquid on my cheek and pulled away softly.

He looked at me with watering eyes, and then shifted his gaze towards the ceiling. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." I looked at my watch. "I have to go home now, but I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" He nodded silently. I put on my shoes and said goodbye before closing the door behind me. When I reached the sidewalk the corners of my mouth turned up into a smile. Then the pain came, and that's the last thing I remember before I blacked out.


End file.
